Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock has compared his squad to fellow relegated side Fulham, but believes they are much better placed to bounce straight back up.

The Cottagers lost players like Ryan Sessegnon, Jean Michael Seri and Ryan Babel this summer, but after an opening day defeat have responded with three straight wins, and now sit third in the table.

Tom Cairney has shown why he is so effective at this level, whilst Aleksandar Mitrovic has rediscovered his goalscoring touch and new signing Ivan Cavaleiro has proved a match-winner.

Speaking ahead of Cardiff's clash with Blackburn, as reported by WalesOnline, Warnock tipped the London side for promotion:

"Fulham, I think their team now is better than they were in the Premier League. Knockaert, Cavaleiro, Mitrovic. What a contract he’s got. We’re not in that league. I think we’d have been fine with Camarasa, Arter, and Gunnarsson."

Cardiff lost the three players Warnock lists over summer, with Harry Arter actually joining Fulham on loan, where he has already impressed.

The Bluebirds were busy in the transfer market in terms of both ins and outs, and so far have had a mixed start in the Championship - losing their two away games but winning both home matches.

The Verdict

Fulham were tipped by many to go straight back up and so far Scott Parker has done all the right things, and as Warnock says they have some top players for this level.

Parker already seems to have found his preferred starting XI and they have gelled well, with Cavaleiro and Mitrovic grabbing the headlines so far.

Despite putting the attention on Fulham, Cardiff should be very competitive at this level. They have many quality players and with Warnock's experience they should be challenging at the top end of the table.